When K and I had reached a satisfactory success in our astral meeting project, we decided to open our experiment and include at least one other person in our workings. We felt it was time to see what effect a third person would have upon our overall experiment and upon the astral locale itself.
The whole process was very gratifying and greatly enriched our astral-meeting experience. Even though the first person we invited left the group (amicably) only six months later, we felt that the bene-fits that came from enlarging our group were worth the effort involved. Since that time, we have successfully integrated two other participants into our group, bringing our current number of active participants to four.
Our three efforts at opening our group have taught us some valu-able lessons. We found that there are four basic factors to consider: 1) Finding one's place in an already established group dynamic is a diffi-cult and often intimidating task. Great care needs to be taken in warmly welcoming a new participant. 2) Likewise, it is often difficult for an established group dynamic to open itself to the change which a new face brings. The group must remain acutely aware of its tenden-cy toward inertia and actively embrace the opposite pole of openness-to-change. 3) There are logistic considerations such as making sure the printed materials reach the new participant and that they are informed of meeting times, techniques, etc. 4) Each new participant will natu-rally cause the astral locale to change slightly. Just as the original group shapes the locale, so also will the addition of a new perspective to some extent re-shape that locale. A balance must be struck between respecting the established locale and openness to growth.
Our experiences quickly led us to establish a well defined process for introducing new participants. It has worked successfully both of the times we've followed it, so I recommend it to you.
152
The role of guide: Central to our process of integrating a new participant into our group is the concept of sponsorship. Each candi-date has one person from the established group who will act as initial liaison and guide. This guide is the candidate's entry into the group dynamic; and likewise, the guide is the group's entry into the in-evitable change of it's own dynamic.
The guide is responsible for getting the introductory material (a copy of our Journal) to the candidate and in every other way facilitat-ing their inclusion into the group meetfacilitat-ings. However, this role should terminate once the candidate has successfully met with the group at the astral locale. It is not meant to be a long-term hierarchical role;
instead, it's to be one of advocacy and warm welcoming. Once wel-comed though, the candidate becomes an equal participant.
In our experience, the role of guide was necessary for only the first two months after the initial invitation to join. Despite its brevity, it is still a crucial role. I advise against opening your group to new participants if there are no members of your group willing to commit the time and effort required for this role. In that case, it is best to wait till someone is available for the task.
Selection and invitation: When a member of our group propos-es someone as a candidate, we must all agree upon their inclusion before we offer that person an invitation. I must confess that in prac-tice, the person who proposes the candidate ends up acting as the pri-mary guide for that candidate.
I have proposed two candidates -- one who stayed with us for six months and one who has been with us for almost a year now -- and I'm considering two others. What they all share is a strong interest in the idea of our astral meeting project and that is my primary criteria for candidacy. For example, M repeatedly stated her interest and inquired for over a year as to the project's progress. The other two I'm considering for inclusion in our group have expressed a similar con-sistency and depth of interest in the project.
Other important questions are: Am I personally interested in working on such an intimate level with this person? Would they real-ly benefit from participation? Does this person realisticalreal-ly have the free-time available in their busy lives to commit to the project?
Once group consensus has been reached on a candidate, the guide proffers an invitation. If accepted, the candidate is sent a copy of our Journal-to-date. This is a detailed record of our work and opens with a description of our astral locale.
Solitary exploration: As the candidate reads our Journal's descriptions, they will naturally begin to formulate a mental picture of, and an emotional relationship with, our astral locale. This marks the beginning of a phase of solitary exploration wherein the candidate attempts to more and more clearly reach the astral locale on their own.
The candidate works at building a personal connection with the locale.
First two-person meeting: Should the candidate have difficulty reaching the astral locale, or conversely, when the candidate has suc-cessfully reached the locale, a meeting at the astral locale between the candidate and the guide should be arranged. At least one two-person meeting should be attempted before attempting a full-group meeting.
If there are problems, then a series of two-person meetings should be pursued until the difficulties are resolved.
First group meeting: Once the two-person meeting goes well, it is time for the candidate to attempt joining in the regular full-group meeting. The established group should take care that the candidate does not exceed their limits and become overwhelmed by the group's energy. Likewise the candidate should remain conscientious of their own limits and not exceed them.
When and if the candidate succeeds in joining the group meeting, they cease to be a candidate (assuming no one raises an objection) and they become an equal participant.
Epilogue
I hope my words encourage you to engage in a similar work. The rewards far, far outweigh the effort required! And the work, though it may sound overwhelming and complex, is really quite an easy labor.
December 21st, 1997 marked two years of meeting at our astral locale. Our project continues to evolve and we are presently moving toward a more relaxed approach to our meetings. In many ways, we are letting go of the "project" part of our work and simply focusing on the "work" part.
154
A
Abyss: 115-117, 119-123, 127, 129.
Adonai: 11, 17.
Aethyr: 83, 84, 87, 89, 91, 93, 94.
Aethyr Wheel: 85, 87, 88, 90-92, 94-96.
Beneath an Astral Moon: 6, 135.
Best time to perform the medi-tations: 132.
Binah: 7, 11, 79-83, 101, 103, 105, 116, 125. Color Plate: 176.
Bright Fertile Mother: 117.
Broadsword: 70, 86, 87, 89-92, 96.
Cross of Equated Forces: 15.
D
Dark Sterile Mother: 117.
Diamond: 69-72, 74-76, 96, 98, 105, 107, 108.
Elements: 5, 15, 20, 24-26, 33-35, 83, 85, 93.
Elohim Gibor: 11, 90.
Elohim Tzabauth: 11, 48, 49.
Equilibrium: 67, 69, 70, 86.
F
121, 128. Color Plates: 174-175.Gnomes: 24.
Greater Self: 120-122, 127-129.
Guardian: 20, 22, 23, 25, 27, 60, 62, 95.
Index
H
Haniel: 25, 95.
Hebrew: 9, 15, 17, 20, 22, 23, 25, 37, 49, 55, 59, 67, 71, 90, 101, 107, 116, 121, 125, 132.
Hebrew Alphabet: 12.
IHVH Adonai: 11, 71, 72, 75.
IHVH Elohim: 11, 125.
IHVH Tzabauth: 11, 59, 62.
Individual-Self: 67, 68, 70, 74, 76, 79, 81, 83, 86, 98, 101-103, 112, 119, 120, 123, 127, 128.
Initiation: 5, 68, 131.
Initiation Into Hermetics: 5, 131.
Invoke: 84, 94.
Luminous Body: 104, 106, 108, 110-112, 128.
Mansions of the Moon: 36.
Mars: 11, 45, 57, 67, 79-81.
Pattern on the Trestleboard: 45, 103.
Paul Case: 45, 47, 51, 55, 103, 108, 111, 121.
Pentagram: 83, 87.
Personality: 27, 32, 33, 35, 39, 40, 45, 46, 52, 64, 67-70, 72, 74,
Self-crafting: 35, 41, 52, 64, 68, 70, 76, 98, 112, 131.
72-fold Name of God: 47.
Shabbatai: 116.
Shaddai: 11, 37.
156
Sun: 11, 32, 34, 61, 62, 67.
Sylphs: 21.
T
Time: 8, 56, 69, 70, 76, 80-82, 86, 102, 119, 120, 122, 129.
Tiphareth: 11, 34, 67, 71, 79, 80, 86, 89, 96, 98, 101, 104, 107, 108, 110, 123, 127, 128. Color Plates: 170-171.
Tools of the Elements: 85.
Tree of Life: 6, 7, 9, 45, 67, 68,
VII: The Chariot: 81, 82, 83, 87.
W
X: Wheel of Fortune: 102.
Y
Yah: 11.
Yesod: 11, 31, 37, 46, 52, 67, 69, 72, 74, 75, 79, 96, 101, 104, 108, 110, 123, 128. Color Plates:
164-165.
Z
Zodiac: 11, 33, 69, 70, 75, 76, 115.
Zone girdling the Earth: 15.